The Techfin Financial APP noticed that analysts have mixed views on the latest fourth quarter performance and guidance of Apple (AAPL.US).

Morgan Stanley maintains a 'shareholding' rating for Apple, with a target price of $273. The bank pointed out that the September quarter results and December quarter guidance provide some information for both bulls and bears - indicating an increase in gross margin and accelerated services for the bulls, while hinting at capacity reductions in the December quarter for the bears, resulting in no significant change in the debate between the two sides.

Led by Erik Woodring, analysts believe that the stock price may experience narrow fluctuations in the short term, but the downside potential is limited. They pointed out that consumer response to the artificial intelligence feature 'Apple Intelligence' introduced in the first phase of the company is crucial for the December quarter performance.

Analysts added that the outlook for the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year for the company is mixed, with revenue slightly below Morgan Stanley's/buy-side expectations, but gross margin better than the market's general expectations.

Analysts believe that the expectations for the first quarter reflect a decrease in iPhone production by 3 to 4 million units, confirming their predictions, but still expecting iPhone revenue to remain flat in that quarter.

With the confirmation of capacity reductions (Wall Street's estimates are also clear), the downside potential for the upcoming iPhone 17 series in the next year may be limited, and analysts hope for an early release of the iPhone 17.

"The financial report results are indeed mixed - September quarter revenue was lower than our expectations but above consensus forecasts," Woodring and his team stated in a report. They believe the main reasons are the lower average selling price of the iPhone and slightly weaker performance in services.

However, analysts point out that seasonally, this is still better than the first two quarters of September, reflecting the strong performance of the iPhone 15 in the later period.

At the same time, Seeking Alpha analyst Uttam Dey holds a positive view on the performance. Dey commented, "Apple's performance in the fourth quarter was solid, surpassing expectations, with iPhone sales increasing by 6% year-on-year, indicating sustained growth in demand for its smart phones."

He pointed out that Apple's performance in the fourth quarter is very different from Samsung Electronics' performance in the third quarter earlier this week, the latter showing that the South Korean smart phone manufacturer is losing its early momentum in the field of AI smart phones.

Dey added that Apple's performance is also an early sign of potential popularity for the iPhone 16 in the smart phone market, "indicating that the iPhone upgrade cycle we've been waiting for is underway, which should help investors eliminate noise."

Bank of America Securities reiterated a "buy" rating for Apple with a target price of $256, citing the long iPhone upgrade cycle, favorable gross margin, and strong cash flow.

An analyst team led by Wamsi Mohan stated that iPhone demand remains strong in the September quarter, but service revenue slightly below Bank of America's expectations for the quarter (+12% year-on-year).

Analysts point out that Apple's revenue expectations for the first quarter range from lower to median compared to the same period last year ($3 billion to $4 billion). This range is quite wide, due to the impact of Apple's staggered smart launches, and the impact of new products and features released in the December quarter, such as hearing aid features on the new Mac computers and AirPods.

The expected gross margin range of 46% to 47% indicates that the iPhone will continue to maintain strong momentum and have some cost benefits (as component prices other than memory are relatively favorable). Analysts believe that the revenue guidance is "conservative" and anticipate that the first quarter performance has the opportunity to slightly exceed the guidance.

Analysts say that due to the increase in service offerings, the gross margin in the third quarter should continue to remain strong.